Young sits again, Lord awaits next assignment, Cavalli pitches in Florida

If Jacob Young was going to lose playing time this season, it figured to be in favor of Robert Hassell III, the Nationals prospect who seemed on the cusp of debuting in the big leagues following a great spring. Two weeks in, though, Young has lost playing time. Not because of Hassell, but because of Alex Call.

Call today finds himself in the Nats lineup for the fifth straight game, the seventh time in eight games. The 30-year-old has been torrid at the plate, going 8-for-18 with two doubles, four RBIs and four walks, while also playing solid defense in both right and left fields.

Young, on the other hand, is still trying to find his stroke at the plate. He opened the season 1-for-15 with three walks, though he did return to start Tuesday night and went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old Gold Glove Award finalist is sitting this afternoon for the fifth time in seven games, turning the daily process of filling out the lineup card a bit more complicated than expected.

“It’s not really complicated, because we still want to work with Jacob on some things, even though he did do better yesterday,” manager Davey Martinez insisted. “We want to get him right. Alex is swinging the bat really, really well, so he’s getting an opportunity to play here a little more. But as I’ve said before, Jacob’s going to be back in there playing center field. He’s going to play a lot of center field.”

Young earned the everyday center field job coming into the season, thanks to his stellar defensive play in 2024 and good-enough offense (.648 OPS, 33 stolen bases) as the team’s regular No. 9 hitter. The 2021 seventh-round pick has always known he would need to be better at the plate, though, to justify retaining his job long-term, with higher-rated outfield prospects like Hassell on the way and Dylan Crews and James Wood already here.

The Nationals don’t view Call in that same category, but neither can they deny his production in limited playing time the last two seasons: a .359/.441/.530 slash line over 136 plate appearances. As long as he keeps it up, Martinez is going to find a way to keep him in the lineup, at the expense of Young.

“My big thing with some of these young kids is to give them an opportunity to be successful, especially early in the year,” the manager said. “I really want to get him going. I’m glad he had a good day yesterday. We’re working on some stuff. And he’s got to be ready and available, because he’s the best outfielder we’ve got. He’ll be out there. I think he’s going to be fine. …

“He’s a good kid. He gets it. He understands what’s going on. The biggest thing is he’s taking this opportunity to fix what needs to be fixed. And he’ll be ready.”

* What’s next for Brad Lord following his solid, three-inning start Tuesday night? For now, the rookie right-hander is going back to the bullpen.

Even though the Nationals will need someone to make at least one more fill-in start before Michael Soroka is eligible to come off the 15-day injured list, Martinez isn’t going to commit that start to Lord quite yet. Not because he didn’t earn it with Tuesday’s performance, but because his services might be required again before then.

“If we need these guys out of the bullpen this weekend, they’re going to pitch out of the bullpen,” Martinez said, referencing not only Lord but Jackson Rutledge and Orlando Ribalta (who combined for five innings of relief in Tuesday’s win).

Soroka, who suffered a right biceps strain on the final pitch of his March 31 season debut, is apparently making good progress in his recovery and was able to play catch in recent days. Even in a best-case scenario, though, he won’t be eligible to come off the IL until April 16.

The Nationals will start Mitchell Parker, Trevor Williams and MacKenzie Gore this weekend in Miami. They’ll need a starter for Monday’s series opener in Pittsburgh, so Lord would figure to get that assignment if he’s not needed in relief prior to that point.

* Cade Cavalli threw two innings in West Palm Beach earlier today, an encouraging sign in the right-hander’s longstanding attempt to return from Tommy John surgery two years ago.

Cavalli, who opened the season on the 15-day IL, totaled 35 pitches, with his fastball sitting between 94-97 mph, according to Martinez.

The Nationals will now build him up as if it was spring training, with a minor league rehab assignment looming not long after that. If he proves healthy and effective in the minors, he could be on track to rejoin the major league rotation sometime this summer, though the organization understands his workload will be limited this season because of all the time he’s had off.